Instilling Number Sense In Kids

Not all children are born with a good number sense. But it is possible to instil number sense in children by encouraging them to solve simple mathematical problems right from early childhood.

So, what is number sense?

An article in nrich.maths.org explains number sense as follows: “The term "number sense" is a relatively new one in mathematics education. It is difficult to define precisely, but broadly speaking, it refers to ‘a well organised conceptual framework of number information that enables a person to understand numbers and number relationships and to solve mathematical problems that are not bound by traditional algorithms’ (Bobis, 1996).” In simple terms, it is an instinctive feel for different numbers and their relationship with each other.

Early mathematical education is very important for developing number sense in children. Children with a good number sense can easily understand how numbers relate to each other. Children with a good understanding of numbers can arrive at a solution in more ways than one. You can also instil number sense in your children through fun activities at home. Learnnc.org explains the idea of a simple fun game that you can play with your children: “A simple game to play when you have a few minutes to fill is ‘Guess My Number’ (Bresser & Holtzman, 1999). Choose a secret number and tell children a range that your number falls within. Have children guess your number and tell them whether their guess is larger or smaller than your number.”

You can also use number charts, mathematical riddles and picture books about numbers to promote and enhance number sense in your children.

For more on this topic, you can refer to the resources in this ClipBook.

Number sense can be thought of as flexible thinking and intuition about a number. In order for students to develop the deep understanding of many math concepts, flexible and fluent thinking with numbers is necessary.

Some children seem to have no sense of numbers. Concepts such as size escape them and they struggle to distinguish differing amounts. Children with poor number sense may have to rethink basic mathematical operations such as addition or subtraction...

These skills are considered important because they contribute to general intuitions about numbers and lay the foundation for more advanced skills. Researchers have linked good number sense with skills observed in students proficient in the followi...

Kids who have strong number sense understand what numbers are, how they relate to each other, and the effects that different operations have on them. These kids can easily compose and decompose numbers and are able to make reasonable estimates mak...

Understand the relationship between numbers and quantities; connect counting to cardinality with these two ways. First, when counting objects, say the number names in the standard order, pairing each object with one and only one number name and ea...

Decompose numbers less than or equal to 10 into pairs in more than one way, e.g., by using objects or drawings, and record each decomposition by a drawing or equation (e.g., 5 = 2 + 3 and 5 = 4 + 1).Drawings need not show details, but should show ...